“Just when I thought I was out…they pull me back in.” – 24

Michael Corleone may have said it first, but Jack Bauer, lead character of the classic Fox TV series 24, is about to live it. Doesn’t the guy deserve a break? Didn’t he wear himself out saving Western civilization for eight seasons? No. It doesn’t work that way. For covert operatives there’s plenty of time to rest— when you’re dead.

And Jack Bauer is very much alive. This May, Fox revives the series with the ticking clock in the corner, this time called 24: Live Another Day.

Premise: it’s four years later since the series ended and Jack (Keifer Sutherland) is in London, a fugitive being hunted by a female CIA agent. Chloe O’Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub) has been, let’s say “damaged” by her involvement with Jack. And James Heller (William Devane) is now President of the U.S.

Reveals Rajskub to E’s “TV Scoop”: “When you find Chloe, she’s just somewhere we’ve never seen her before. She’s in a bad, bad spot…I’ve gone anti-government and when Jack and I are finally reunited, we’re not seeing eye-to-eye.”

Sutherland told ABC News: “Things will be blowing up — cars, double decker buses, things like that,” said Sutherland, who was born in London. “I’m sure we’ll be hated by a large portion of London for snarling up their traffic here and there, and for that I apologize in advance.”

Jack Bauer going soft? Hardly. Advance word is that this will be an even tougher, grittier Jack. Bad guys and good guys beware. The clock is ticking.

24: Live Another Day will be a 12 episode mini-series, debuting with a two-hour special on May 5th, with regular one-hour programs continuing on May 12th.